April 29, 2011

Cullerton opposes Quinn income tax suspension plan for towns

Illinois Senate President John Cullerton today turned thumbs down on Gov. Pat Quinn's plan to withhold nearly $100 million a month from Chicago and other towns to pressure lawmakers to let him borrow billions of dollars to pay overdue bills.

Suspending those payments would only result in tax hikes at the local level, Cullerton said today.

Quinn’s plan, which was outlined in a confidential memo obtained by the Tribune Thursday, is “a little disjointed,” Cullerton said, and the governor should instead focus on negotiating with lawmakers to convince them of the borrowing idea.

“I don’t think that is the way to go,” said Cullerton, a Chicago Democrat. “I personally think we can work with the Republicans to see if we can get them to agree to refinance our debt. This is not new borrowing, we already borrowed the money that we owe and we have to pay it off.”

Quinn is threatening to withhold a portion of the state income tax that the state doles out to cities and villages. He hopes the possibility of less money from the state will spur local officials to pressure their lawmakers to pass legislation that would let him borrow at least $4.5 billion, which he would use to pay down the backlog of bills the state owes to vendors and others.

Quinn had previously asked to borrow $8.75 billion to pay off overdue bills, but that idea got a chilly reception from Republican leaders and some rank-and-file Democrats. The revised plan isn’t faring much better, with lawmakers already lashing out against what they say is arm-twisting by Quinn.

Cullerton said municipalities already are suffering budget problems, and less support from the state would mean local officials would seek to raise taxes to make ends meet.

All 50 aldermen on the Chicago City Council had to file paperwork earlier this year detailing their outside income and gifts. The Tribune took that ethics paperwork and posted the information here for you to see. You can search by ward number or alderman's last name.

The Cook County Assessor's office has put together lists of projected median property tax bills for all suburban towns and city neighborhoods. We've posted them for you to get a look at who's paying more and who's paying less.

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